


On-screen Words are Sober Thoughts

by prda



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Confessions, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Gay, Gay Male Character, Gay Panic, Love Confessions, M/M, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:14:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25674919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prda/pseuds/prda
Summary: This is an AU where Jack and Davey are college roommates (I know another roommate AU from me).David has spent his whole day waiting for an important e-mail to come in, but so far it hasn't come in. Thankfully, Jack has just come back from his afternoon class and he asks him to keep an eye on it as he takes a quick shower. So, Jack being Jack, decides to go through Davey's laptop....and sees something he obviously wasn't meant to see.Also, despite the title, there's not gonna be any drinking or drunken moments. Just thought it would be clever.Oh, and get ready for a bunch of clichés and tropes in this one.
Relationships: David Jacobs & Jack Kelly, David Jacobs/Jack Kelly
Kudos: 51





	On-screen Words are Sober Thoughts

Do you know what sucks the most about college professors? Long wait time replies. How is it that they can make these elaborate PowerPoints or have their own websites dedicated to themselves, and yet have the hardest time to reply to an e-mail? It even says in the syllabus that she usually replies within 1 to 2 hours.

For David, that 1 to 2 hours has come and gone, and he is now approaching hour 4. He knows this because he sent an e-mail concerning his progress in his Advanced College Writing course around noon and it's 3:52.

"Ugh, for the love of God, come on Katherine..."

David knows the professor has to be doing something or anything to avoid her e-mails today because she isn't teaching any classes today and has this day marked as office hours. Granted, he should have gone in-person for this matter but he's not exactly in the right mindset at the moment to talk to her.

It's been a rough day to say the least. First off, his key to the bike gate broke, leaving him bike-less and forcing him to walk in 95 degree heat ( **A/N 35 C for the rest of the world haha** ). Second, the moment he sat in his seat for his third class of the day he remembered he left his assignment on his desk. So he had to shamefully walk to the professor and explain what happened. They're on somewhat-good terms so he allows him to turn it in next class, as long as it doesn't happen again. Next, in the very spacious and open quad with no one around, some guy on his skateboard wasn't paying attention and ran into him from behind. Now, David wasn't kinda pissed at this point, but he knew things happened and kinda shrugged it off. He did tell the guy to watch it next time, though.

And the cherry on top of all this, the e-mail situation. When David sent that during lunch, he expected to see a response when he came back from his last class of the day. But lo and behold...nothing.

As David sits back and groans to the heavens above, questioning what he did in his life to deserve this, he hears the front door open.

"Hey Dave, ya here?"

Jack's back home, a bit earlier than usual. Jack and David have been roommates ever since freshman year, making it a good 2-and-a-half years worth of rooming and pushing each others' buttons. But they always have each other's backs and wouldn't get rid of each other for anything in the world. For heaven's sake, they share so many things and usually do things only with themselves that they might as well be connected at the hip.

"Yeah. Why're you back early? Doesn't your class end at 4?"

Jack walks into their shared room and sets his stuff on his side. He swivels his chair around to face David.

"It does but Larkin got an emergency call and had to end early."

"Really? What happened?"

"Didn't say. All she said was 'Class, I gotta go. Emergency. You can leave.' Then she grabbed her bag, and got out."

"Wow...must be very serious."

"Yeah..."

Now an awkward silence fills the space. That's one of the things they share: they can't continue a conversation when it gets to a point like this. Jack's eyes wander around the room, trying to find something to talk about. He looks back at David, stares for a good second, then smiles and starts to chuckle.

David, confused, asks, "What? What's so funny?"

"Did ya leave the place this morning lookin' like that?"

"Huh?"

Then Jack whips out his phone and snaps a picture. He gives it to David, "'Ave a look at yourself, Dave."

David takes the phone and his eyes go wide. There's a dirt mark on his hand he missed after he got hit by the skateboarder. His fringe is messy, unlike his normal combed, sleek style. And his shirt has a coffee stain. How he didn't realize this entire day, he'll never know.

"Damn, I look like-"

"Shit." Jack says, finishing the sentence.

"'Gee, thanks Jack. Didn't know that.'" David responds in a mocking tone as he hands the phone back. "You better delete that."

"Hmmm, I don't know. I think I got my next screensaver right 'ere." Jack teases.

Annoyed, David sternly says, "Jack, I'm not in the mood today. Get rid of it please." Stern apparently went out to lunch because annoyance and anger came out instead. David, obviously not aware of that, places his face in his hands and just groans.

"Sheesh, don't get your panties in a bunch. What's eatin' ya?"

"Let's just say a lot's happened, okay."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

Jack raises his hands in defeat. "Alright. Don't if you don't wanna. Though, ya may wanna wash up. Who knows, a good shower may help."

"I'd love to Jack, but I'm waiting for something important."

"What? A package or somethin'?"

"No, it's an e-mail from Katherine. You know, my Writing professor?"

"Oh yeah, I know her. She's kinda cute, not my type though."

"Yeah, and I think I know why..." David says gesturing to the rainbow flag that hangs on their ceiling. They're both openly gay, with Jack being the most open about it. Whenever David brought a new friend over, he'd always introduce himself as, "Hi [friend's name], I'm gay." To which the friend would be confused, David would be annoyed, and Jack would have a laugh.

Jack doesn't respond past rolling his eyes at the gesture. "Whatever. Just 'cause I happen to like guys more doesn't mean I can't tell if a girl is cute or not. Anyway, why're you hung up on an e-mail? It's not like it's a phone call."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But it's important okay? Her course is tough and I need to know the second it arrives. You know what they say, 'It's like a band-aid, do it quick and you won't even notice'?"

"Yeah, Davey, for very important or big decisions, not on class progress." David just wants to whack the smug off of Jack's face. He knows how much he hates 'Davey', especially when it's used to mock him.

"Very funny, Jack. Regardless, I need to keep an eye on it."

"Look, you're stressed enough as it is. So here: I'll keep an eye on that very important and very serious e-mail while you wash up. Deal?"

It's very rare for Jack to compromise or do things for other people. Not that he's selfish or only thinks about himself, rather it's he knows he no really the one to rely important stuff on. Though, like he said, this isn't that important. All he has to do is look at David's inbox and see if the message comes. Simple as that.

"...Well... _sigh_ fine. But you'd better tell me the second I get back. Got it?"

Jack flashes him a thumbs up, "Ya got it, Dave."

"Oh, and don't go through my stuff. I know you like to poke around, so don't even think about it."

With that, David grabs a towel and a change of clothes out of his drawers and heads to their bathroom.

Hearing the shower head turn on, Jack is left alone with his thoughts...staring at a screen...for who knows how long...

 _Hmph, how insultin' he thinks I'm gonna mess with his stuff_ , Jack thinks as it absentmindedly moves the cursor around the screen, _I mean it's not like I'm gonna accidentally close the page or some-_

The literal second Jack thinks that, his finger twitches, causing him to click the 'close window' button on the browser. In an instant, the page with David's inbox disappears, leaving open some other windows he had been using before.

 _...Y'know, he might know me better than I thought...,_ is Jack's next thought as he groans and goes to reopen to the browser again.

As he brings the cursor back down to the task bar, he takes a quick glance at what David left open. There's some PDFs that are talking about genders, sexualities, and also about gender dysphoria. Jack thinks David might be stressed out because he's having an identity crisis, or maybe he's going through some kind of sexual realization. That all goes into the trash when Jack takes a look at the next window, which houses all of David's notes. The one left open says "Gender + Sexuality Studies Paper Outline". So nope, it's not an identity crisis; just a paper.

Jack knows very well that he shouldn't, but he takes a look at the tabs that are on the same app. He quickly peruses through them, seeing as each one is related to David's classes. Unsurprisingly, Katherine's class is the one that takes up the most space. It's not until he reaches the very last one that he stops to actually consider clicking on them. The reason why? The name of it was just "Jack".

Jack automatically thinks, _He...has a tab about me?_

He brings the cursor back to the tab, this time hovering his finger over the button. _I-I can't do this. I mean_ _I_ shouldn't _be doing this...But still..._

Curiosity gets the better of him and he clicks the tab. David's class notes are instantaneously switched to the new tab, and Jack prepares for what may come.

> What Jack can't know

The first line isn't what Jack is expecting. What can't David tell Jack?

He scrolls through the tab.

> He can't know that I'm secretly jealous of how open he is about his sexuality.
> 
> He can't know that I secretly like the 'I'm gay' jokes.

_So far...everything's goin' okay. Heh, looks like my charm is workin' on Davey._

> He can't know that the only he's good at cooking is toast...and he still somehow messes that up.

_Yeah...I figured he'd say that. And of course, he'd keep it to himself._

> He can't know that I would give up anything to have an ounce of talent he has. (Note: ask him for a lesson someday)

_Hmm. He wants to paint, huh? Duly noted._

> He can't know that I want him to look at me the way he looks at his art as he passionately paints all day.

_That's...weird. What does he mean by that?_

> He can't know that calling me Davey doesn't only make me irritated. It also makes the butterflies in my stomach flutter like they're on drugs.

_Wait!? What?_

> He can't know that I get up early just to hear his morning voice.
> 
> He can't know that I stay up late and pretend to be asleep when he gets home to be sure he's okay.

> He can't know that I get jealous when he jokingly kisses his friends but never with me.
> 
> He can't know that I wrapped myself in his jacket one night he came home late, scared something happened when he didn't answer my calls.
> 
> **He can't know that I want us to be more than friends.**

_W-Where's this all comin' from? David...likes me too._

Sounds pretty cliché, doesn't it? The two roommates end up liking each other and they don't realize the other feels the same. Jack always assumed that this trope only existed in movies and tv, never thinking he'd end up in the exact situation. But surprise, surprise, here he is looking at what is basically David's thoughts and feelings written down for the world to see. Correction, the world was **_not_** meant to see it but of course, Jack.

Jack sits back into the chair. He can't even begin to process how to take this new information, much less about what to do with it anyhow. Should he bring it up with David? But that would mean admitting that he went through his stuff. Should he let him bring it up? That'll take forever though, considering that he is just realizing after more than two years and David usually keeps things to himself for an eternity. Will this change anything? How long has he felt this way? Should Jack do anything different to avoid making the strain worse?

Jack's brain is full of so many questions that he doesn't hear the shower stop and the bathroom door open and shut.

So it's comes a shock and surprise to him when David opens the door, wearing his change of clothes and drying his hair with his old clothes tucked under his arm.

"Hey, did my e-mail get here ye-"

David notices Jack's wide-eyes, which he knows means that Jack was doing something he wasn't supposed to. He looks back at the screen and notices that the browser is gone and his notes are open.

"What did yo-" Is all David can say before he notices which tab is open. His eyes go wide as well and he begins to turn red. Whether it's from embarrassment or anger, he doesn't know or can't figure out.

"I-I swear Davey...I-I didn't mean to-"

"Jack! Why did you open that!?" David quickly shouts as he quickly drops his stuff and rushes to his laptop, trying to close what Jack just saw. But Jack and his quick reflexes snatch it faster, holding away from David.

"Jack! Give it back!"

"Hold on, David." Jack says as he carefully puts the laptop on his bed, while holding David back with his other arm.

"This isn't funny, Jack! Come on!" Is David's response as he tries to push Jack out of the way to get his laptop back.

"Didn't say it was. I'll give it back to you, but...you gotta tell me one thing."

David stops pushing and pulls back. Still a bit pissed, he sternly says, "And what 'thing' is it?"

Staring deep into his eyes, Jack asks, "...Did you mean everything you wrote down on there?" pointing at the screen.

David rolls his eyes and laughs a kind of defeated yet sarcastic laugh. He sits back down in his chair and rubs his face into his hands.

"Dear God, today is just not my day is it? _groan_ Why, oh why do you have to do this to me!?"

"Begging to God ain't gonna do any good, Davey." He probably shouldn't have said that, considering that he just read what David really feels about it. He thought it would ease the tension, but it may have caused the opposite effect.

David winces and shuts his eyes tight at that name. "Don't. Don't do that to me, Jack. Just...please don't. Not now."

"Sorry...but I still want an answer."

"I know, I know. But...dammit I can't!"

"Why? Why is it so hard to say either yes or no?"

"Because it isn't that simple! If it were, I would've said yes or no. But I can't because...because...it's hard okay!?" David shouts not in anger but frustration. Emotions have always been a hard thing for David to express, and a mix of emotions coming out at once isn't uncommon with him.

"Okay. Then tell me, why isn't it simple?"

David gets up and starts pacing around. "You wanna know? Fine! It's not easy because how do you admit to your best friend of almost three years that you wanna be more than that!? Gimme an honest answer. 'Cause I sure as hell don't have one. God, I've been dreading something like this would happen. It feels like I'm in a movie or book or some crappy fanfiction ( **A/N: _cough cough_ )**. I shouldn't have listened to you. I should've just stayed put and waited like I had planned. That way none of this could've happened. At least then I wouldn't have to hear what you're gonna say."

"W-What I'll say? Whaddya mean, Dave? That I don't feel the same?"

"Exactly! I don't wanna hear that! I don't wanna have to go through this right now! Not with how much shit I've gone through today!"

Jack gets up and walks over to David. "Dave, calm down for a sec, please."

David stops his pacing to notice Jack walking over. "How do you expect me to be calm? I basically admitted that I like you and you expec-"

Jack grabs David and quickly smashes his lips against his, obviously trying to get his feelings across and getting the "Walking Mouth" to shut up for a second. Keyword: second.

After a moment of shock, David starts to push Jack, even hitting his arms to get him off. "J-Jack! Stop!"

"What? Isn't this what you want?"

"No! I don't want your pity kisses." Well that didn't work.

Jack does the same thing again, and the same response happens again. "Jack stop! Stop joking around!"

"I ain't joking around David. I'm trying to say that-"

"That you only see me as a friend, I know. You do this to all your frie-"

"I like you too, Davey!"

That response echoes throughout the room. The silence returns, this time almost deafening.

David stops resisting and finally looks at Jack. They look into each other's eyes, and David scans them for any hint of a lie. He doesn't find one.

"You...you do too?"

"Yes! For God's sake, yes!"

David looks down, processing what Jack said. He looks back into his eyes, scanning again.

"Jack...please tell me you're telling the truth." His voice begins to crack and waiver, "Because if you're just messing with me and toying with my head, I swear to God I'll never forgive you..."

Jack hates seeing David like this. He only saw him like this one other time when they had a big fight and Jack accidentally said that David would never know how hard it is to be an artist since he hadn't created something of his own. He instantly regretted it and began to apologize, but David shut him out for a good week. That didn't stop Jack from noticing how depressed David suddenly got and that he wasn't as talkative anymore. Finally, after begging for the 50th time that week, David opened up and said that what Jack said really hurt, and that Jack shouldn't be saying sorry if he didn't mean it. To which Jack said of course he meant it, and David looked at Jack to be sure he did. After confirming, they both agreed that they'd move on, but David made Jack promise to not say anything he'd regret to him again.

And now Jack finds himself in the same spot, but he knows that the next words aren't regrettable.

"David, I promised I wouldn't say anything I didn't mean. I promise that I'm not kidding. I've loved you longer than I can remember. You want proof? Look at me and tell me I'm lying."

David's red-rimmed eyes stare deep into Jack's, with tears on the brink of spilling out teetering on the edge. He takes in a deep breath before burying his face into Jack's shoulder. Jack reflexively wraps his arms around David tight, remembering the last time this happened.

"It's okay, Dave. I'm here."

"Say it again." David responds into Jack's shoulder.

Taken back, Jack asks, "What?"

David turns his head so he can say clearer, "Say my name again."

"You mean 'Dave'?"

"No...'Davey'...can I hear you say that again?"

"Oh...okay...well..." Jack hesitantly pulls back so he can see Dave's face, still red-rimmed but no longer filled with tears. "Are you sure?"

David nods, "Please..."

"Okay then....Davey..." Jack waits for the response. He is surprised not by a grimace, but by a weak smile growing on David's face. Jack begins to get overwhelmed with how fast things are going, but he keeps saying, "...I love you...so much."

David makes the move this time. He wraps his arms around Jack and pulls themselves together, closing the distance so Dave can kiss Jack.

"I love you too, Jacky."

Jack smiles into the kiss as he kisses David back. David never called him anything but Jack, so this is special. Jacky...he could get used to that.

> **New Email! Received 4:06 PM**
> 
> **From:** Pulitzer, Katherine
> 
> **Subject:** Re: Class Progress
> 
> Hello David,
> 
> My apologies for the late response. I had a colleague reach out for assistance and was away from my desk. As for your current progress, you have made some improvements and are taking my critiques to heart. Very well done.
> 
> I've noticed that your best works are when you're honest about you and your true feelings rather than what you think I want to hear. I was like that myself too, but that didn't help and got me nowhere. Don't hold yourself back is my advice for you. If you allow yourself to be more vulnerable and open, I have no doubt that you'll do better than what you think can.
> 
> Have a nice day!
> 
> \- Katherine.

**Author's Note:**

> Well this was a long one to write. Would you believe me if I said this took a literal month to write? Well, it did. Hope you enjoyed it and be ready for another Javid fanfic in the future. See ya!


End file.
